Zutara Month 2017
by turtleducklingg
Summary: One-shots for 2017's zk month. Hope you enjoy!
1. Day 4 - Fireplace

*Disclamer: I do **not** own avatar the last airbender, or any characters from the series*

* * *

She sees him in the fireplace.

Every night, as dawn falls outside her window and silence echoes throughout her house, she sees him. Flaming eyes, tangerine lips, and his scar, alight and yet so dim compared to the rest of him.

She remembers him as a teenager, lost and confused and so _angry_ , just like those red-hot flames that flicker in front of her. She remembers him all in black, running with her as they chased the man of her nightmares. She remembers him so at peace, so content with himself; and then, he was gone, pulled away from her just at the brink of _something_.

He had been crowned Firelord at such a young age - _too young_. Too young to know what he wanted, and yet, too old to be naive. Because he may not of wanted all the responsibility, all the power, but he knew damn well that he didn't have a choice.

He could have been aching to be fire lord for all she knew; he never told her one way or the other. But there was something about the look in his eyes when he went out to be crowned, full of pride and joy and peace, but full of something else too, something she couldn't quite put her finger on, or maybe just didn't want to put her finger on.

Looking back on it now, she probably just imagined it - she always did have a tendency to _overanalyse_ things concerning him.

Just like she overanalysed the kiss that they shared.

It was just a kiss, nothing more. And yet, the fire on her tongue and the sound of heart-beats pounding in her head and the way she was so overwhelmed that she needed to grip his waist to stay steady made her doubt whether it was just a kiss. It was the way that she leant in slightly more than needed in order to inhale his scent, a strange mix of freesia and burning wood that she can still smell to this very day, or the way that she can still remember the faint taste of his lips 50 years later, or the way that she felt such a strong want for his lips to be on hers after the event, not in the way of _i could do that again_ as she had felt with Aang, but in the way of not being able to take her mind off it for days afterwards, of longing for the feeling in her chest when his lips touched hers, that made her think that there was more between herself and Zuko than she had previously thought.

And that scared her. It scared her the night of the kiss, and it still scares her decades later. Because she has been widowed for over 20 years, has had three children with her husband, has lived out so much of her life with him, yet the fireplace that she gazes into every single night still reminds her of the man she kissed in her early twenties, and scarcely saw afterwards.

She isn't sure whether she sees him in the fireplace because she watches it every night, or watches it every night because she sees him in it. She isn't even sure that she really wants to know.

She doubts that he ever had feelings for her, although she's not certain if she really thinks that, or if she just says it so she does not dwell on it even more.

It shouldn't matter either way; he wouldn't have been able to marry her years ago, having been married very early in his reign, and now... well, she isn't supposed to think about _now_. Besides, he never have feelings for her anyway. She is sure of that.

And yet, she isn't sure. Because _he_ was the one who initiated the kiss, _he_ was the one who ran his fingers through her hair when she gripped his waist, and _he_ was the one who simply stared at her afterwards, waiting for her reaction so he could act the same. And, as she said before, it shouldn't matter whether he really ever did have feelings for her or not, because she cannot change her past, but it _does_ matter. It matters every night that she sits here, soaking in her thoughts and gazing at the fire.

Sometimes, as her eyes meld with the bright flames in front of her, she wonders if he ever watches the water and thinks about her.

She doesn't like to admit it, but deep down, she hopes that he does.

* * *

 _A/N: OH GOD SO IVE BASICALLY LEFT THE AVATAR FANDOM BUT I WAS READING MY OLD ONE-SHOTS AT 4AM LAST NIGHT AND I REALISED I KINDA MISS THIS A LOT AND THEN I SAW THAT IT IS ZUTARA MONTH ON TUMBLR SO I WROTE THIS AT 4AM LAST NIGHT (ITS PROBABLY TERRIBLE BECAUSE OF THAT + I DIDNT PROOF-READ IT) BUT YEAH I HOPE YOU ENJOYED! Should I write more zutara and get back into the avatar fandom?_


	2. Day 5 - Distance

There were many ways in which a couple would have a distance problem, but she found that with Zuko, the most painful distance was within the relationship itself.

Most of his distance was understandable, keeping in mind his huge amounts of work and the nation that rested on his shoulders. Even when he wasn't drowning in paperwork and meetings and issues, he was still thinking and worrying about those things, and honestly, she didn't blame him; if she ran a whole nation, she would be stressed out too. And no matter how much she tried to put him at ease and make him feel better, she knew that sometimes, there really was nothing she could do.

She could handle all of that - she wouldn't have married him if she couldn't. It was just that even during the times when she knew he was relaxed, saw no signs of stress or annoyance in his amber eyes, he was still distant.

It was times that, after he finally sorted out an issue, and climbed into bed with her after a long day of work, and never really wanted to talk, or kiss, or do anything mildly couple-ly. He would simply lie there, not turned away from her, but not facing her either.

It wasn't like he was particularly angry or upset, he just wasn't _happy_ either. And if he wasn't happy, she was determined to find out why.

Today was the first day that he didn't come to bed late due to work, which made it a good day to address her issue. He walked out of the bathroom, robe hanging loosely off his shoulders and revealing his collarbone, and she motioned for him to sit down next to her.

"Zuko... you know you can tell me anything, right?" She began, her voice calm and eyes soft.

Slight confusion furrowed his eyebrows at the unexpected topic, and he nodded, "Yeah, of course Kat."

"Okay, so is there anything you would like to tell me? Anything bothering you?" She asked.

Her husband simply continued with his confusion. "Well, no... I mean, there have been issues with work, but nothing worse than usual-"

"Zuko, you've been acting really distant recently. Why?" She finally inquired, tired of beating around the bush.

"O-oh, that? Well, I thought you wanted me to, since I was being kinda clingy."

Now it was Katara's turn to be confused. "What? I never said I wanted you to be distant."

"Well, you didn't say you wanted me to be distant, but you did say less clingy - remember?" He asked, which she replied to with the shake of her head. "A few weeks ago," he continued, "We were cuddling and you seem kind of annoyed, so I tried to kiss you but you turned away and asked why I had to be so clingy all the time."

"Oh god, I can't believe I even said that. I was in such a bad mood, and Sokka had just announced that they were having a surprise visit to the Fire Nation, and there was just so many things going on... I'm so sorry, I should have never said that. You were trying to make me feel better, after all."

"No, don't be sorry. I know how difficult it can be to have a lot of things of things on your plate."

She leant closer to him, enjoying his body warmth soaking into her skin. "I really don't deserve you."

"I think you have it the wrong way round."

"No, really, you're so kind and understanding, and-"

"I love you so much."

She smiled, taking his hand in hers. "I love you more."

"Just to make sure... you don't want me to be distant, right?"

"Right."

His lips upturned to match hers, and for the first time in a while, they were completely and utterly _close_.

* * *

 _A/N: i don't really like this one, but hopefully it's not too bad!_


	3. Day 6 - Snowflakes

_* A moderish AU in which the world of four nations is the same, but the war has long passed and people travel more freely between nations + teachers!au*_

* * *

Her heart pounded in her head as she stepped forward, all eyes on her as she tried to keep her head held high. The classroom was small, only fitting about 20, closely-spaced desks, with about 12 of which occupied. Small feet rested atop of desks and bored expressions painted pale faces, and the sound of careless chatter didn't show any signs of stopping when she cleared her throat and eyed the talking pupils.

"Um, is this everyone?" She asked, her voice quieter than she expected. No one seemed to hear her over the children's voices, except the tall man sitting at the back of the class; he was the real teacher of this class, come to supervise her and judge if she had what it took to teach.

"Well, a few a few students are ill, quite a few more have simply stopped coming, and this was never a full class to begin with," his deep voice resonated throughout the class and silenced the students. "so yes, this is everyone."

There was something about the way he spoke, the shape of his lips when he formed his words, that aggravated her, but she pushed it away; if she was going to prove that she could teach these students, she needed to have her complete focus on it, however difficult that may have been with those intense amber eyes watching her every move from the back of the class.

"Thank you, Mr Agni." She gave him a slight smile, which was replied to with an almost unnoticeable nod. However, while this small exchange took place, the pupils had took it as their opportunity to continue their chatter.

"Okay class, settle down." She said. The talking only continued. "Okay, um, please stop talking!" She tried again, raising her voice slightly more. Still nothing. "Okay, this is your last chance to stop talking, unless you all want to stay behind after class!"

And, just like magic, the chatter immediately ceased.

"Thank you." She smiled, glancing at all of her pupils. "I'm Miss Yuka, and-"

" _Yuka_?" A voice coming from the back of the class asked. She turned her attention to the speaker, a small, scrawny boy with messy brown hair and dark eyes. "Dark skin and a weird surname... you're not from 'round here, are you?"

She was slightly taken aback by the boys straightforwardness, but answered his question nonetheless, "Okay, just call me Miss K, and no, I'm from the South Pole."

That certainly got the attention of any daydreaming pupils. Questions were thrown at her from every angle of the classroom, the students' voices melding together to create an even louder sound.

"Okay, okay, quiet down!" She yelled, and surprisingly enough, they actually did stop their talking. "I'd love to tell you all about the South Pole and what it's like, but I have a lesson to teach. Now, today I'm going to be talking about the water cycle-"

"Miss, that's _boring_! We want to know about the South Pole and the water tribes!" A voice complained, followed by a chorus of ' _yeah!_ ' from the rest of the students.

She was silent for a moment, contemplating what to do, when an idea popped into her head.

"Okay, you all want to know about the South Pole, so I'll tell you about something we have a lot of: snow. Has anyone here ever seen snow in real life?"

They all shook their heads.

"Well, you've seen pictures of it, right?"

A girl spoke up this time, with jet black hair that framed her pale complexion, and glassy brown eyes. "Yeah, we've seen pictures. It looks kinda powdery, like icing sugar."

"Good! Snow looks quite a lot like sugar, so let's imagine it like that; a huge pile of sugar is like a pile of snow, and each individual sugar granule is like a snowflake. Snowflakes are actually tiny ice crystals that only from below 0 degrees Centigrade, or 32 degrees Fahrenheit. The low temperature freezes the water droplets, and then grows in the saturated air. Snowflakes actually have very intricate patterns, and each pattern is different depending on the temperature and humidity of the air it grew in... the patterns are much too small for us to see with our eyes, but scientists with microscopes in the North Pole, where I went to college, can see that each snowflake has a different and unique pattern. But anyway, these snowflakes actually relate to the the water cycle, because..." And so she carried on, explaining snowflakes and cloud formation and weather as her pupils listened silently. She really was quite proud of herself when the lesson ended, especially when the scrawny boy who first asked where she was from, asked with a certain hopefulness in his eyes, "will you be our teacher for the rest of the year, Miss K?"

"Well, I can't be sure of it yet," she glanced at the amber eyed man sitting at the back, "but I hope I can teach you all more, you seem like lovely students."

And with that, class was dismissed, leaving her alone in the classroom - well, almost.

"Snowflakes aren't part of the curriculum, you know." his deep voice reached her ears.

"O-oh... yes, I know that, they just seemed to interested in the South Pole, I thought-"

"I liked what you did. Well done." He smiled, and with the upturn of his lips, she noticed that he really was quite handsome. "Many people can be teachers, but not many can change their ways of teaching to suit the students they are teaching. It is, of course, up to the Headteacher whether you get to teach here, but I think you're perfect for the job."

A wide smile bloomed on her face, her lips unable to conceal her happiness at his words. "Oh, thank you so much! Teaching has always been my dream since I was a little girl in the southern water tribe... it's why i travelled all the way to the North Pole to study for it! I'm so glad you think I'd be good for the job, Mr Agni."

He chuckled lightly, warmth finally appearing in his amber eyes. "Please, call me Zuko. I've never really liked the formalities anyway... Agni reminds me a bit too much of my father."

"Oh, well then call me Katara." She smiled.

"You know, what you said about the snowflakes and all... it was really interesting. Not many people know about things like that in the Fire Nation - I mean, a volcanic island next to the equator isn't ever going to get cold enough for snow."

"Yeah, it is _really_ warm here." she agreed. "You've never been to the South Pole, then?"

"No, I've always wanted to go, though. I have the money and all, but it's mostly from my family, and they're quite... patriotic. They don't really see the point in travelling away from their home." He sighed, but quickly brightened the mood again with a joke, "maybe you should bring me along next time you visit."

She laughed with him at his suggestion, and said, "I'll keep you in mind next time I'm planning to go, Zuko."

And with that, she left the classroom, hoping more than ever that she would get the job here.

* * *

 _Aw, I actually quite like this one! I got all the snowflake info off wikipedia, so please correct me if I got it wrong (I've never been very good at science lmao)_


	4. Day 7 - Unexpected Visits

In the South Pole, there are not many telephones. Unlike their sister tribe, they prefer to keep things simple, traditional, without new and strange inventions. But there is an exception - it is only used for important news, and rarely rings, but today, Katara is awakened by an obnoxious ringing and a harsh tapping on her shoulder.

When she opens her eyes, she finds that the tapping is from Kasak, one of the younger members of the tribe, and the ringing is the telephone that he is holding.

"It's for you," the young man says, his sharp features becoming more defined as she rubs her eyes; he has the build of an average water tribe man, with dark skin and black hair to go along with it. His eyes have a sort of bluntness to them, but also kindness, and underneath them are dark bags from lack of sleep.

"Thank you, Kosak." She says, smiling despite the fact that she really _doesn't_ appreciate being woken up so early. When the telephone was first invented, she received an unpleasant awakening much more often; Sokka was very enthusiastic about the new machine, and often called her from Republic City for the sole purpose of using the phone. When she had first seen the phone in Kosak's hands, she did jump to the conclusion that it was Sokka, and had already begun forming a very angry lecture to him about how he shouldn't be using the phone just for the sake of using it, and how it got the whole tribe thinking there was something important happening, but-

 _Sokka's dead_. He passed away very shortly after the telephone was invented. She supposes that she had forgotten, in her state of tiredness, that her brother had passed away nearly ten years ago.

She takes the phone. "Hello?" She asks.

The voice of Lin replies to her, in a much softer tone than she has ever heard from her, "Hey, Katara. Me and Su only just got the news this morning, so we weren't sure if you'd heard yet, but Toph... she passed away last night."

The news shouldn't hit her so hard; both her husband and her brother have already died in the past 20 years, and Toph was obviously getting old but... she's _Toph_. She has always had a certain strength to her, a strange feeling of unbreakableness around her, and to hear that she's dead... It is just strange. More than strange, of course, but she prefers not to dwell so much on the feelings of loss; she has felt the crushing weight of a loved one's death more than enough in her life.

"O-oh." She takes a breath, trying to gather her thoughts. "How... how did it happen?"

There is a pause before Lin's reply, as if she too needs to gather her thoughts before speaking. "Passed away in her sleep. Nothing serious, just old age. She was found by some group of young adventurers from the Earth Kingdom that had gone exploring in the swamp."

"Mhm... yes of course, in the swamp," Katara says quietly, not sure who her words are directed at.

"Well, I guess I should be going now. Need to arrange some things with Su. Sorry, um, for your loss... I know you two were pretty close."

"Oh, yeah, we were. I hope you're doing okay too... I know you and Toph didn't have the best relationship, but she was still your mother, and-"

"Thank you, I really should go now, Katara."

"Oh, okay, bye."

"Goodbye."

And with that, Lin hangs up.

* * *

For the next few hours, Katara can be found sitting in front of the fireplace, flames reflecting in her aged eyes and lips set in a firm line. Her thoughts are only interrupted by sharp tapping at the wooden poles of her tent. She is not in the mood for company, but a quiet come in still escapes her lips. And as if there weren't enough surprises today, she is met with a man she hasn't seen since Aang's funeral.

"Oh, hello," She says, unsure of how to react, "this is unexpected."

A ghost of a smile appears on the ex Fire Lord's wrinkled face. "I haven't seen you in so long,"

"23 years." She adds, her voice sounding slightly harsher than she expects it to. "You've heard about Toph, then."

"Yes." He nods. "I just thought I'd come to visit you - we're the only to left. You know, from _Team Avatar."_

She has never really thought about it that way. When Aang and Sokka died, she had always thought of it as her husband and her brother, but Zuko is right; they _are_ the only two left.

"Well, I'll make some tea."

* * *

" _The only two left,"_ She muses, her tea mug warming her hands.

"It's strange, isn't it," Zuko says. "It only seems like a few years ago, when we were fighting in the war."

She nods. "I can't believe I'm 84."

He chuckles, "Better than me - I'm 86."

"Yes, those two years must make all the difference." She jokes, before turning the conversation back to more serious topics. "Do you ever miss it? The travelling, the fighting, the _danger_ ,"

"Of course I miss it. I know I shouldn't, because war is never a good thing - so much death and loss and sorrow. But it was something to _do_ , something better than sitting in an office and working through your country's problems, while the same people that you're trying to help are constantly spreading rumours about you."

"It _was_ something to do... I know some people are perfectly content with sitting at home, cooking, cleaning, looking after the kids. But that's just not what _life_ is to me. Of course, I can't change it now, and I never once doubted that I wanted children, but just not like _that_. I guess I've always like danger, and I guess that's a bit weird, but I like to _fight_. Yes, I'm a healer, but I'm also a warrior... I guess not many people see that."

"Really? I've always seen you as a warrior. I mean, you were the _mom_ of the group, but even as your enemy, you never seemed like some timid healer girl. No, you were passionate, and strong, and _so stubborn_." A smile appears on his face, "Got a bit annoying sometimes, but that was just _you_. I kind of always admired it too."

"Thank you," she says, her face now painted with a smile to match his. "With you... well, you were always a bit of a mystery to me, if I'm being honest. But you were also a friend. I loved Aang and Toph and everyone, but you were the person I could tell anything to. You were always so accepting, and understanding... and so brave. To go through what you did at such a young age, and still overcome it... that's admirable in every way."

"Well, I couldn't have done it without my Uncle." He pauses, as if lost in memory for a moment. "This reminds me of those long talks we used to have, all late at night under the big moon peach tree."

"Ah, yes, I remember that. And that one night, when we saw the shooting stars," She thinks back to the memory fondly, not quite sure if she should mention the other part of the night.

"And you kissed me."

Her cheeks still flush slightly at his words. It must have been around midnight, and the meteor shower was lighting up the sky, and all of the sudden her lips were on his and his hands were tangled in her hair; it was like a love story, a fairy tale - but real life never has such happy endings.

"I really did like you, you know," She admits. "If you hadn't been the prince of the Fire Nation, and I hadn't been a poor water tribe girl... I would have asked you out."

And now, even so many years later, she can still spot a pink tint on his cheeks.

"What about Aang?" He asks.

"Aang..." She hopes that, if he is able to watch her from the afterlife, he's not too offended. "I loved Aang, I really did, I just... I didn't need to love him in a _romantic_ way. When we kissed, all those years back, it was nice, it just wasn't - i don't know - _special_. And I know that sounds rude but I'd only kissed two guys before, you and Jet, and he just felt different from you two. And not really in a good way. It was nice to date him for a little bit but I didn't really want to _marry_ him. I guess he was a good choice, and he loved me a lot, and my life was fine with him, he just never felt _right_."

"It felt the same with Mai... although, I'm not really sure if I ever really liked her in that way, or if it was just silly teenage hormones. I suppose it doesn't really matter now - she passed away years ago."

"You're right; no point dwelling on the past." She sighs, taking a sip of her tea. The man sitting next to her has changed so much in appearance, the only feature identical to how she remembers him being those warm amber eyes, and yet, talking to him feels no different than those late night conversations they had as teenagers.

"You should visit more." She says.

"Yes," He agrees, his old, wrinkled face lit up by the fire. "I should."

* * *

 _A/N: shiT this is so long_


	5. Day 89 - Spice Ethereal

_*lmao tea/coffee shop au bc i love it even though its cliche*_

* * *

She came to his tea shop every day.

It was always the same routine; she entered the shop around 6pm, ordered a jasmine and lemongrass tea, sat down at the table in the left corner of the shop, and proceeded to type rapidly on her laptop until the shop closed at 8pm. He could mention things like how she always smiled brightly at him when she ordered, or how she always had her earplugs in as she wrote, or sometimes closed her eyes for minutes at a time, letting her warm tea prickle her cheeks as she simply sat, soaking in thought, but he supposed that noticing all those small details was a bit creepy of him. He could just say he was observant, but it's not like he ever noticed anything about the other people that visited the shop ever day. No, it was just her that her.

She looked almost ethereal; dark hair falling perfectly in place, delicate fingers jumping swiftly from key to key, and those eyes, those vibrant blue eyes that could have held hundreds of oceans, glazed over with cobalt skies and forget-me-nots. Her whole character was warm browns, like coffee and oak wood and spice, and yet, her eyes were bright and refreshing, still full of love and warm, but also daydreams and wanderlust. There was something about those eyes that drew him in, made him want to know more, but he doubted he would ever find the courage to talk to her. She had a routine, a routine that she had been perfectly carrying out for months now, and he didn't want to disrupt her by changing the ways of her habit.

Today, however, was different.

She entered the shop at 6:47pm, much later than usual, ordered a matcha green tea, sat down much nearer to the counter (an old, serious-faced man had already taken her place in the corner, since she had come in so much later), and began to write. She still flashed him a smile, and still listened to music, but today, her typing was much more rapid, and she seemed to be tapping the _delete_ key more than any other. Maybe, if her routine had already changed so much, he could just change it slightly more by starting a conversation with her.

The challenge of talking to the girl he had been admiring for who-knows-long had many difficulties, but the first one he encountered was finding the right time to talk. Fortunately, this problem was solved when he noticed her tea had gone cold, and she had only drunk a few sips. He began walking towards her.

"Excuse me, um-" he began, waiting until she looked up to carry on. "Sorry for bothering you, would you like another tea?"

"Oh, no thanks," she replied, glancing over at her nearly-full cup.

"Are you sure? Yours has gone cold, and I- I can make it on the house."

"That's sweet of you, but I can't possibly have it for free... is there any any tea here that relieves stress? I've had a kind of bad day and I got this," she gestures to her green tea, "because I heard it's good for anxiety, but it turns out that I hate the taste of it,"

He smiled; it turns out all those months of his uncle teaching him about tea really would pay off. "Well, chamomile tea's good, but that also increases drowsiness, so I'd go with something with lemon balm in it. We have a nice lemon balm and valerian blend, if you'd like to try that." He suggested.

A smile appeared on her face, blue eyes crinkling as her lips upturned. "That would be lovely! Thank you so much, here's some money for it," She handed him a note, "Keep the change."

"Thank you," he smiled, staring into her cerulean eyes, "u-um, I'll go make the tea now."

He couldn't help grinning as he brewed her tea.

* * *

For the weeks after their first conversation, Katara (her name which he, when she first told him, said it was the _prettiest name he had ever heard_ , and then proceeded to blush furiously and rush to the back of the shop, mumbling something about brewing tea) had added a slight alteration to her daily routine. Every day when she entered, she would ask him for a tea recommendation, and then order whatever he said.

Except one day, when she came in with a sparkle in her eyes and - if he was seeing things properly - a _teabag_ in her hand.

"Hi Katara, do you want another tea recommendation today, or..." he glanced at what she was holding.

"Actually Zuko, I think I have a recommendation for you. Hopefully you'll like it." She said, handing him the teabag with a wide smile on her face.

He glanced at the bag. "What tea is it?" He asked, but when he looked up, she had already gone to her usual seat in the left corner.

He held it up to his nose and sniffed it; it was a blend of rose, lavender and vanilla - known by some people as the love tea.

 _No,_ he thought to himself, _she can't have known it was called that._

He looked at it again, and this time spotted dark ink decorating the tea tag, and flipping it over so he could read whatever was written on it:

 _xxx-xxx-xxxx_

 _call me :)_

 _\- k_

He smiled, and when he glanced over to the table in the left corner of the shop, those bright blue eyes were smiling back at him.


	6. Day 13 - Silent Night

The littlest things can turn your whole world around.

She has learnt this in many ways, and yet, never in _this_ way. Never in the way that each word cracked the ground under her feet as they hit her ears, until her whole world collapsed beneath her feet. She had never felt such emotion, such overflowing sorrow and anger and disbelief that she couldn't hold her own body up. It was so unexpected, so sudden, and so, so _wrong_.

But it happened nonetheless.

And after all that blinding emotion, there was numbness. It was a relief and a curse all at once, the constant feeling of no feeling crawling up her lungs. The dull cotton filling her heart was a coping mechanism - that's what the therapist told her anyway, the way her body coped with the amount of emotion she was experiencing. But Katara wasn't sure if that was a good thing. Because she _should_ have been filled with feeling and emotion unlike anything she had ever felt before; the love of her life had _died_ , for agni's sake, and now she was simply letting her velvety black robes sweep the floor, longing for just a little bit of feeling, a little bit of heat in her blood. And yet, there was nothing.

Nothing until midnight. Because as the moon rose outside her window, and darkness shaded her curtains, the sorrow finally got to her. She wasn't sure what it was about the pitch black sky resting outside her room that suddenly made her feel so much, made her cry until saltwater soaked into her bedsheets and stained her fingertips.

One of her fondest memories of her husband was their 2am conversations, his deep voice soaking into her shoulder as he ran his fingers through her hair, their legs entangled and their eyes locked lazily, the ocean of her irises melding with the liquid gold of his as thick darkness surrounded them.

Now the night was silent, as her tears fell and her heart ached. Completely, utterly, terribly silent.

* * *

 _I haven't written in a while bc I've been busy with school but I'm back with some very short angst_


End file.
